Nami's Wave
by FullMetalButterfly
Summary: Nami has always been traveling, but once she meets Gustafa, will she finally settle down?


Well, here is my second Harvest Moon fanfic. I've made this one between Nami and Gustafa.

I hope you enjoy it! =]

As I walked down the rocky path, thinking about my past, I stumbled upon a little place called Forget-Me-Not Valley. I walked through the town, not expecting much as it was quite small, but I didn't want to pass it up either. As I looked around, I saw many people who were dependent on one another for everyday life. Thinking about how nice that would be, I walked to the ocean and stared at the oncoming waves. The wind blew through my hair, and I couldn't help but take a deep breath of the salty air. Suddenly, I heard people walking towards the beach, and without a second thought, I turned to leave the little town.

Before I could, however, a pleasant sound wafted to me from a tree, beckoning me to come to it. It was a familiar sound, one I knew I had heard before, but I could not quite put my finger on where I had heard it. As I neared, I noticed where it was coming from: a man was playing an instrument. Walking closer, the man noticed my presence and stopped playing. He greeted me, "Hello stranger. I've never seen you around these parts. Visiting?"

"Yes," I replied. Me not being much of a talker, I just stood there. The man, taking the hint, smiled and started playing. Once again the pleasant music could be heard, but this time it was a different song. In the middle of his playing, the man said, "Not many people come to listen when I play my music."

"Really?" I replied, not quite interested in his story.

"Yeah, I guess most people around here are just too busy. Jill, this valley's farmer, used to listen to me when she first arrived, but now she has so many responsibilities…" he trailed off, looking a little sad. However, in a moment he was back to his cheery-self. "It's nice to have someone appreciate what you do," he said to me with a smile. I was rather surprised by this statement, and tried my best to hide a blush. The man, however, was too busy with his instrument to really take notice. At the end of the song, the man took a deep breath and then looked up at me. "My name's Gustafa," he said, "what's yours?"

"Nami," I replied. Gustafa's eyes got wide, and he looked at me more closely. "That's a lovely name," he said, "mind if I write a song about it?" Caught off guard by this, I quickly replied "no" before I could really even have a chance to think about it. Gustafa looked disappointed, but kindly said, "It's alright, I understand. I guess if I were you I wouldn't really want some strange guy I just met to write a song about me either." He laughed, and quickly put a smile back on his face. Feeling mad at myself, I looked at the ground and just wanted to go home. "Well," he said, "I believe it's time for me to head home. I hope to see you again some time." And with that, Gustafa got up and headed home, but not before patting me on the head. "Don't worry," he whispered, "everyone has their shy moments."

I left Forget-Me-Not Valley after that, and with tears in my eyes tried to forget the rude position I had placed myself in.

I have gone many places since then: Mineral Town, Flowerbud Village, Waffle Island…all of these places were quite enjoyable, but none so much as Forget-Me-Not Valley. I still look back upon my visit there and wonder why it was I left. I missed the little town terribly, and my heart ached whenever I thought about Gustafa. I wasn't really sure why this occurred, but I knew it wasn't normal; I had never had this problem before. Perplexed, I didn't know what to do with myself, and thus found myself secluded from people even more. This made me quite annoyed, until finally I couldn't take it anymore. I had to visit Gustafa again. I stopped dead in my tracts, and immediately headed back to that little town.

When I arrived some 2 days later, it looked exactly as how I left it, except now it was Fall. I remembered cherry blossoms falling on Gustafa's hat, but now it would be colorful leaves instead. This made me realize just how long I've been gone…and it made me sad. What if he had found a girl that he liked? What if they got married? What if he moved away? All of these what if's floated through my brain, making me quite uneasy. I couldn't understand these feelings either, which didn't help the situation.

I slowly walked through the town, recalling exactly where everything was located. I'm known for my photographic memory, and take pride in it. Walking to where I had last seen Gustafa, I remembered what had happened that day. I smiled, and continued on my walk. Arriving at the tree, I found that he wasn't there. "Of course he isn't," I said, and smiled weakly. "It's been half a year after all…" The sun started to set, and I headed towards Griffin's Bar. There I hoped to drown my sorrows in alcohol and jazz, and would then leave the valley; this time for good. As I opened the door, though, I heard a familiar sound. I quickly pushed open the door, and there at the counter was Gustafa, playing his instrument. The sound it produced was happy, but had a melancholic feel to it. I stood there for a moment, listening to the sad music.

Once it was over, I felt like leaving. I wasn't quite up to the task of talking to Gustafa like I thought I had been. Before I could though, he caught me out of the corner of his eye and approached me.

"Hey stranger, long time no see!" he said, with a big grin on his face, "how've you been?"

"I-I've been good," I stumbled for the correct words. 'Of course I haven't been good. I've been thinking about you all this time!' I wanted to say, but kept those thoughts to myself. "It has been a while, hasn't it?" I faked a smile.

"Why yes, yes it has. So long, in fact, that I think that I should buy you a drink. What do ya say?"

"Well, I do believe that's what I came in here to do in the first place," I chuckled. "Yes, that would be nice."

"Wonderful," he smiled once more, truly elated that I agreed to his idea of a 'date'. I never did quite understand why talking to me made this man so happy, but I wouldn't learn that until a few days later.

Gustafa and I have been hanging out these past couple days, which has truly made me happy. I still feel weird when I think about him, and now it seems to have gotten a little worse. Although I feel this way, I really enjoy being with him, and he seems to feel the same about me. Yesterday we went to the beach, where he played his instrument. I told him that this time I wouldn't mind if he wrote a song about me, but he just smiled and said, "That's ok." I think he's still considering my feelings from before, which makes me feel tinges of remorse. 'Sometimes I don't understand him…' I thought to myself. 'But…maybe that's what I like about him?' I felt odd thinking about this, so I put it to the back of my thoughts.

"Hello Nami," Gustafa said, looking up at me from his mat on the grass. "Hello," I replied back. I walked up to where he was sitting and quickly joined him. I looked at him and smiled, and he smiled back. At that moment I was extremely grateful that I had met this man.

"You know, Nami…there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," he suddenly said, quickly getting my attention. "I know this might sound weird, but…I feel like we've met before. I don't mean as in like a previous life or anything, but more like earlier in our lives. Remember how I had reacted when I learned your name?" he said this all rather quietly, as if he wasn't sure in what he was saying.

"Yes, I do," I replied, "your look changed dramatically, and it appeared as if you were studying me."

"Yes, I was…" he trailed. "To tell you the truth, there was a girl I met when I was around 10 years old. She had short red hair, and deep blue eyes…eyes that you could easily get lost in…actually, she looked a lot like you. You two even share the same name."

"You're kidding me…" I said, not quite believing in what I was hearing. "How did you meet this girl?"

"Well, it was actually a tragic situation. Marlin, a friend of mine, and I were walking through the woods, looking for mushrooms for our mothers to use for that nights dinner. As we were walking, we stumbled upon a ledge, where we heard the most unbelievable and horrifying sound: a girl was crying over the side. Now, Marlin and I were scared out of our wits, but we weren't about to leave a poor girl stuck there, especially not overnight. We called to her, and thankfully were able to get a response. Unfortunately, she was down about 10 feet and we weren't able to get her back up. Marlin quickly got up and ran for help, while I stayed behind to be with her. In order to pass time and to help calm her down, I started to play my instrument. It seemed to have worked, as she quickly started to quiet down."

"This carried on for almost an hour until Marlin finally came back, bringing both his and my dad. After a short while they were able to get the girl up over the ledge, and I can just remember seeing her face, all dirtied up from mud and dirt, and her crying face as she wept. She stayed at the hospital for a few days, and every day I would bring her some flowers. One day though, she just disappeared, and all that she left was a note that read "Thanks for helping me, and for the flowers. –Nami". I never did see that little girl again." Gustafa let out a sigh, as if remembering his past had caused some feelings to resurface.

I, however, was not as reminiscent as he was. I stood there in horror, not believing the words that I had just heard come out of his mouth. Noticing my shock, he looked at me with a questioning look on his face. It didn't take him long to figure out what I was thinking though, and it was quite obvious. I had been that little girl that fell down that cliff. I had been that little girl that he played his instrument to for almost an hour. I had been that little girl that he helped rescue and gave flowers to while she was in the hospital. All of this hit me at once, and I fainted.

I slowly opened my eyes, my head still hurting from what had happened. Just remembering it made my eyes water, and soon I was crying. "What's wrong?" I heard a voice say from across the room. Now there were footsteps, and suddenly there was a hand on my forehead. I stared up into the light blue eyes of Gustafa, and suddenly started to cry even more.

"I n-never knew that t-that was y-you," I said between sobs, "if I h-had, I certainly would h-have thanked you s-sooner."

"It's alright Nami," he kindly said, "you showed me your thanks when you came back here. Not once, but twice. That's all that matters to me now."

I knew he was only being kind, and that me coming here could not possibly be enough thanks for him; I had it set in my mind to do anything for him that would make him happy. It was the least I could ever do to thank him for what he had done for me. "What can I do to show my appreciation to you?" I was really hoping he would answer me honestly this time, "I had always wanted to visit those boys, but was in certain circumstances that would not allow me to do so…"

"It's alright Nami," he chuckled. "All you have to do from now on is stay here in Forget-Me-Not Valley by my side."

And with that, he leaned over and tenderly kissed me on the lips.


End file.
